under the stars
by niO1
Summary: chapter 2 up.it's Phil's birthday...what would happen? chaos? dissapointment? or romance? pairing rio/phil, hints of leena/gareas
1. Rio did WHAT?!

Under the stars…..  
  
Disclaimer: ok…I do not owe Megami Kouhosei………sadly enough….so I own NOTHING!!! NOTHING!!!!! NOTHING!!!! *Ahem * yes.  
  
Personal notes: this is another one of my weird attempts at a fic, so yes……(I don't know what to say) I know I suck at writing, so if you're really to flame…….*sob * by all means, you can do so, but on a personal level I like constructive criticism better. Oh well, I can't be that picky in life.  
  
Pairings: well……….the summery said it all……………and mentions of Gareas X Leena  
  
Warning: a little Out of character here? But then again, I'm not good with characterization. And its all fluff. ARGHHHHH I CAN'T BELIEVE I WROTE SUCH STUFF!! (hey that rhymed.)  
  
  
  
Phil sat in the observation deck thinking alone after training with the other pilots and repairers for the last 4 hours. She was worn out already, even though the day was to be considered one of the "easier days" in life, due to the absence of the Victim's attack. Honestly, this was the last place on the entire GIS to allow her to keep her sanity, after another chaotic day with the others. She often found herself questioning how all the previous repairers in history could endure such a burden of stress – but then again, maybe they weren't teamed up together with such difficult teammates.  
  
Gareas, on one hand, made up for the majority of Phil's "difficult teammates". While Leena was manageable when her 'mothering' instincts didn't kick in, Gareas can't even be controlled when he was in a good or bad mood. Well, at least he HAS moods, on the advantageous side, unlike Yu and Kazuhi whom act like they're total strangers- that they were forced to be present in front of the others just because of orders from the highest of the GIS hierarchy, and not because of their desire of unity to destroy all Victims and protect Zion. And at the most unexpected times, they would just appear and disappear without warning- something Phil had found absolutely unnerving since working with them.  
  
Tune and Erts are having problems too- although it has been 3 months since Ert's arrival here; Tune still treats him like a young child lost in a large social gathering- where he would be out of place amongst the crowds of people no matter how hard he tries to blend in. It was understandable really- it was awkward for Tune to be working with the younger brother of her first love that had died. Maybe the sense of guilt for her inability to help Ernest when the Victim killed him still lingered in her heart. Tune barely talks to Erts as a matter of fact, Phil could only assume that Tune didn't want to suffer through the same pains again of being too close to a pilot, only to be separated with him with the cruel happenings of fate.  
  
"-Phil?"  
  
Phil's head snapped up at the interruption of her thoughts. She turned around to face the new comer only to see the childish grin of Rio.  
  
"What's up, Phil? Why the gloomy look? We have to go back to training soon, you know- but before that, cook me a meal!" yes, that was Rio. Optimistic, cheerful and ever hungry, as if all the troubles of the world did not exist in any part of him. Phil wished wistfully that she was like him too…..but she knew that joy like Rio's meant little in the face of Victim.  
  
"Rio, how can you be hungry again? We just had lunch," Phil commented half heartily, as she knew that such opinions from her would never ease Rio's demand for food. She stared at Rio, and the unidentifiable feelings in her heart became a turmoil all the sudden- she didn't understand what they were, but somehow she knew that a blush was slowly creeping onto her face.  
  
A concerned reply came; "hey, are you okay? You look like you have a fever…….maybe you should rest. Or do you want me to take you to the medical area, or the kitchen for some nice chicken soup?" Great. Rio did depict the blush off her face, and Phil cursed silently. That was the last thing she wanted.  
  
She saw the worried look on Rio's face and had to think of a suitable response- fast, to calm the near frantic Rio down. That boy would concern for anyone, whether they want him to or not. Phil knew she was selfish to wish for this, but deep in her heart she wanted Rio to give her the most concern- a type that no one can ever possess.  
  
"No..i'm fine..it's a bit stuffy in here though………I guess they turned the heater up a bit too much" That should do the trick. And it did. Rio then let out a bright grin and said "that's great! You almost scared me just then." He was scared? For me? Did he… no, the boy was too naïve to even know of the existence of such emotions for people. Rio then turned around and headed for the door and said "I'll see you later then. And don't forget my meal!"  
  
"Rio…." She let out the voice from her own thoughts, and caught his attention as he was leaving. "Damn!" She thought, "Why did I call him"? Before Phil could change her mistake, Rio had headed back to where Phil was situated. Phil stood up.  
  
"yea?"  
  
Phil decided that now was the time, to let out her fears and to question Rio about his thoughts. She had doubt many times for this to happen, as she feared his response, but she knew that she would have to face it sooner or later.  
  
"Rio…do you ever fear? Do you ever fear death when in the Ingrid, fear the Victims?" An unnatural silence stood between them. As always, Rio was the one to break the silence with the answer. Phil gulped in anticipation. She could still run now and not hear it, she can, and the door was only about 5 meters away.  
  
"To be honest, I do fear these things. But I don't take them into account because I know I have everyone to help me, Gareas, Yu, Erts, Teela, and the other repairers. But the most important is because I have a great partner for me, and I'm sure that in each battle you'll take care of me……..and even though Ernest had died in our team, but that was the past- so I guess it doesn't matter anymore."  
  
A simple answer. Yet enough to satisfy a young girl's heart. As Phil stood there while most of her worries drained away, Rio leaned in…….and kissed Phil on the lips. Only till after the short kiss did Phil realize what had happened- and she was shocked and once again, her cheeks flushed. She dropped back down onto her seat.  
  
"-w-why?" a weak word escaped from he lips, in an attempt to demand for the answer to the previous action. Rio smiled casually and shrugged- "Dunno. Guess it was the right thing to do at that moment. I've seen Garu do that to Leena when she seems unhappy, and you looked kinda sad…….so…..—hey, you don't mind, do you? I mean, sorry if it didn't cheer you up..i'll think of something again—" Phil cut in; "no, it's fine….you just took me by surprised, that's all."  
  
So this kiss, was done through the intention of bringing happiness- not what Phil truly hoped for, but it was still a first kiss nonetheless. Perhaps she'll have to wait for a few weeks, months or years to finally get Rio to say what she wanted to hear for all these years, but she can wait. And she won't mind how long she would have to wait….. but during the time, she'll have to be the repairer Rio believed her to be. She'll put everything, all her strength, all her skill into every battle to ensure Rio lives till that day comes. Slowly, she lifted herself from her seat, and said, "Come on Rio. We should go to training soon- I'll make you a meal before we go, ok?"  
  
Gareas and Leena had just shared a kiss in the less illuminated area of the hanger. Suddenly, Rio appeared out of nowhere and said, "Hey, how did you guys do that? I mean you guys didn't even need to breath for 1 whole minute!! When Phil and me did that I couldn't even last 5 seconds. Great, I'll have to learn from you guys" and then ran off to annoy someone else.  
  
Firstly, to the dumbstruck Leena and Gareas, anger came first from their disturbance of a personal time, but then the rest of Rio's sayings slowly sank in and had their effect on the couple….  
  
"Did he say that he…erm…..kissed Phil?" Gareas questioned. "Garu, you need more rest," Leena answered, she herself unable to believe what she just heard.  
  
Tune giggled as she walked into the couple's viewing range. Apparently she heard it too. "I guess the younger ones learn a few things now-a-days from you two. Told you not to do these things in front of them." They all shared a laugh at the last remark.  
  
In the distance, Yu and Kazuhi stared at the laughing trio with confused faces.  
  
"Oniisama, what are they talking about?" "I have no idea. But lets not get involved into this- we might become like them."  
  
Notes: okay, that was bad. I told everyone I couldn't write. Yes, it got too sentimental, but I just read books with deep meanings like "bone setters daughter", "the binding chair" and other stuff……….so I guess I was influenced……….haaha…..(weird laughter to self)…….. if I continue writing at this rate I'll never pass my GCSE's……. argh crap..exams next week. (ignore my rantings) 


	2. of birthdays ......

1 Author's notes: yes, I'm making a second chapter for this….I hope you don't mind my constant typos here and there, and the grammar needs to be improved.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I only get a measly $200 HK every 2 weeks as an allowance so please don't sue me. (Trust me, to get the amount of that in U.S., simply, divide by 8……….which is about 25U.S.?)  
  
2  
  
3 Chapter 2  
  
Phil stood there, in the darkness, pensive. She studied her surroundings- surely it was one of the rooms of G.I.S., but which one, she wasn't sure.  
  
There were simply too many things to remember and she had prioritized the most important to cram into her head- knowledge of machines, or solutions to ensure the safety of any Ingrid pilot in case they come in the face of danger. Surprisingly, the surroundings were obscured- either her vision was blurred, or being more logical, there was fog. Her thoughts stopped wandering there. Wait a minute-fog? The natural environment or the relaxation areas were artificially created- and Phil, being most experienced in the world of mechanics and computers knew that by far the systems in G.I.S. were not capable of generating fog. It was simply too advanced at this stage of time.  
  
Suddenly, she saw a disturbance in the stillness of the fog- there was another person here, but who was it? Phil's question was answered when Rio stepped out into view, and Phil instantly relaxed- ceased it to be another, she would have felt embarrassed to be in a situation like this, lost and not knowing what to do. Or why she was there in the first place.  
  
Rio slowly walked over towards Phil, but she immediately knew something was wrong- Rio's usual friendly and loud greeting was absent- it was the trademark to his open character. Phil opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. Or rather, the sound wouldn't come out- it was like to she was forbidden to do so. As he slowly advanced, Phil started shifting around uneasily- it was starting to get on her nerves the way Rio was acting, and the place she was in was getting chilly. Suddenly, Rio stood in front of Phil, and leaned down…only to kiss her on the forehead. Then he turned around and started heading back to become one with the fog, to merge with the darkness. Phil protested, or rather, attempted to, but by now, some strong yet invisible force had made her incapable of speaking AND moving. So she just stood there, all along, watching as the object she most cherished slowly abandon her in the wrath of the fog.  
  
Phil woke up with a start. Being the person on the safe side, she quickly scanned the environment she was currently in- on her left, she could see her outfit of the day hung on the wall, and on the right she saw her nightstand, with a glass of water in which Phil drank from every night before sleep- it had been encouraged by Leena when Phil told her of her insomnia, but even though now a days Phil has solved that problem, the water-before-bed had become a part of her daily life. Not that it brought any bad side effects of course.  
  
Thinking back to the dream-it has been three weeks since Phil's encounter with Rio on the observation deck, where she got more than she had bargained for- a first kiss. It wasn't surprising that she still dreamt about that incident as it happened a relatively short period of time ago, therefore it may still be influential enough to affect her dreams- she did dream about Rio every night for the first week.  
  
But she felt there was something more to the dream she has just had. Unlike her own mother or Kazuhi, she couldn't decipher all these hidden meanings in a more spiritual outlook- she was a woman of science, and firmly resolved to believing that the world functioned with all the laws of psychics, chemistry and biology.  
  
Slowly, she got out of bed. Today was an important and yet depressing day for her- it was the day of the great number sixteen. Sixteen. How the age rang through her ears so easily without any intention of harm, but Phil knew that as sixteen came pass her, it brought much more burdens and responsibilities along. But she'll just have to grow along with it and adapt to it- isn't that life? She pushed the thought out of her head, chose to ignore it, got changed and headed out the door to commence the day's work awaiting her.  
  
  
  
However, as if it was her destiny, she wasn't allowed to forget that it was her birthday- not with the constant reminders Tune and Leena were giving her. Even Kazuhi greeted her with a soft-spoken "happy birthday". Phil would have normally appreciated Kazuhi's will to actually open her mouth and speak, but however, she was turning sixteen, and a heavy weight was put on her shoulders. Kazuhi, being fifteen still, would not understand, until a few months later. Phil could wait until that day, but for now, she'll envy Kazuhi for being younger.  
  
"Erts!! What do you mean that some of the officers on G.I.S. possessed 'merely defected ears'!! They were so obviously ignoring you because you are a new pilot!!" So Gareas and Erts have arrived. That was how each day started- a bit of gabbling with her fellow workers, and a sudden loud shout of complaint. Without even bothering to turn around to watch, she listened to how the current argument would slowly resolve around her.  
  
"If I were you, I'll rip their heads off!!" There goes Gareas.  
  
"Gareas-san. I-it's alright really…..it's not their fault….." Erts retorted. Little did he know that it was no use to slowly explain to Gareas. The word 'slow' never existed in his vocabulary. That was a rule learnt on day one of meeting them, as candidates.  
  
"Tell me who they are, Erts! I'll kick their sorry asses that they ever treated you this way! And to think that we risk losing our lives killing the Victim to protect rude, loud people like them"  
  
Snort. Rude people? Gareas ruled number one as that. Then it was Rio, always badgering around for food, even though he just had a meal five minutes ago. Speaking of which, where was Rio? Phil searched the entire hangar area for him, but to no avail. The door to the bay suddenly opened, but much to Phil's disappointment, it was only Yu who proceeded to enter to meet up with the others. Strange. Yu is never caught to be late, and plus, Rio was still missing, even at this hour. Phil was getting suspicious. And it was only the start of the day.  
  
After eight hours of daily-required work in repairing the Ingrids, Phil let out a sigh of relief. However, Rio was missing the entire day. Maybe he got food poisoning at last, Phil mused, and it wasn't much of a surprise as he ate almost anything and everything non-stop. Maybe she should go to the sick bay to find him, or his room. As she stepped out of the bay to call it a day, Leena stopped her and said:  
  
"Phil, could you please come to my room in ten minutes? I have to discuss with you the possible effects of you installing the shield's power generator that is set at level three." Leena then turned to leave hurriedly.  
  
Oh great. Now after a hard day of work, the absence of the only source of humor to rescue her from the day's boredom, she is required to be held in a lengthy discussion with Leena. At least when Leena talks with people she gives out hot chocolate. Tune even said that if you listened for over twenty minutes she gives out cookies. Phil silently thanked Leena's mothering instincts, and prepared to head towards Leena's quarters.  
  
Now Leena, being the head repairer, had been granted the use of one of the larger rooms. Phil considered charging straight through the door, but she decided against it as although she was close friends with Leena, what if she walked straight into Leena with Gareas doing what only they would be interested in? It had happened once to Tune. She had found the door ajar and had walked in to see in case Leena had been attacked. Instead she saw Leena kissing Gareas, and Tune has turned several shades of crimson, and instead of apologizing and walking away, she had decided to faint (from embarrassment) right on the floor. Leena and Gareas had to lift her to the medical area later.  
  
Phil knocked on the door- only to find herself in the same situation as Tune was in- the door was once again unlocked. Phil considered leaving, but her concern for Leena's situation outweighed the other option. Anyways, she wasn't as old fashioned and shy as Tune, and its not like kisses were not to be seen. So she entered promptly and-  
  
"SURPRISE!!"  
  
Phil was taken aback. Instead of seeing just Leena and Gareas "in business" like she expected it to be, everyone was there- all the pilots minus Teela (she doesn't like this kind of gatherings) and the rest of the repairers. And after Phil came to her senses and scanned the entire room, besides the presence of a huge box (which would supposing be her present) and a disturbingly large pink cake (most likely Leena's choice) she noticed that once again, Rio was missing. How could she call it a birthday without him around? But to prevent the disappointment to the others for using their time to prepare all this, Phil forced a smile and pretended to enjoy the rest of the party.  
  
The cake cutting ceremony was enrolled, and Phil made a birthday wish, which was a secret to everybody. Everyone had to eat a slice of cake to show respect to the birthday girl whether they like it or not. However, Leena seemed to be eating more than that of a normal person. Phil suspected that it must be a grown woman's increase of appetite. After eating that shockingly pink cake which actually tasted good, Erts, Yu and Gareas helped push the huge present the gang must've prepared to the center of the room where Phil could open it for all to see. Now the box was a bit too large for any normal gift- even G.I.S. wouldn't sell something of this size. Phil seriously hoped that the group didn't go all out in expenses to get her this. It had a huge red ribbon tied to the top, and Phil slowly undid it to expose the secrets inside.  
  
Phil couldn't believe her eyes. Inside, sitting there happily eating the last remains of the birthday cake was Rio, happy as ever. Next to him were 5 other used cake dishes. That explains Leena's 'increase of appetite'. She had been secretly feeding Rio to stop him from complaining the entire time. Phil was so happy she was speechless. Now she felt her day was complete, and she embraced Rio and felt like she would never let go. Then she started blushing when she realized what she was doing and started whacking him and yelling that he made her worry all day because he didn't show up, and that he missed an important day of training.  
  
In a corner Gareas asked Erts  
  
"Who was in charge of getting that Rio in the box? I know he doesn't have enough forbearance to last the day sitting in a box" Ert's replied  
  
"It was Yu that was in charge of that matter. Why don't you ask him?" Erts then pointed towards the silent pilot. He followed Gareas to ask as well because of his curiosity of how anyone could makes the hyperactive Rio stay still. The arrived in front of Yu who was listening to his sister talk of other topics. It was Gareas who asked the question  
  
"Hey Yu, how did you make Rio stay in the box?" Although Yu's face did not show any signs of emotion, however a sense of triumph was present in his single worded reply of  
  
"Bribes". And so the party continued on.  
  
Suddenly, like a dagger that sliced through the peace, the emergency bell rang out, which meant to coming of Victims. All the pilots and repairers ran out of the room in a rush, leaving behind their current celebration to get to their designated stations. Teela also appeared out of the blue to fight against the upcoming Victim. Staistics were reported as the pilots prepared for launch.  
  
"What's the Victim type, Kazuhi?"  
  
"R-typed confirmed. Numbers are 3"  
  
"Gates are all opened, ready for launch"  
  
"Tune?"  
  
"Luhma Klein ready"  
  
"Kazuhi?"  
  
"Tellia Kallisto ready"  
  
"Phil?"  
  
"Agui Keameia ready"  
  
Finally, Leena gave the sudden shout of confirmation of "Eeva Leena ready!" and the pilots were off into the vast and empty space, to rid of the three stains that were Victim.  
  
Phil couldn't remember the next sequence of events. She remembered Agui Keameia blocking an attack from one of the Victims from harming Eeva Leena, and Rio's prideful report to ensure Phil that he was fine out in battle. Then she recalled seeing the other Victim sneak behind Rio's back ….and her loud and desperate screaming of his name again and again, until she surrendered to be engulfed in darkness.  
  
TBC……….  
  
Ending notes: of course to be continued. I would never have the heart to leave Rio in this state. And if you want to criticize my grammar or spellings, you may do so- constructive criticism is encouraged. Thank you! 


End file.
